Is it just me or does it seem like I change the purpose, format, content, and style of this blog every other week? Right, maybe that's an exaggeration. But it has changed tons of times before. Well, several. Well, a few. Well... once. But it was a big once, it allowed for study abroad adventures. Can you blame me? Besides, you know you liked it *wink wink, nudge nudge*
Anyhow. Moving right along. Yes! I am back now so that means I don't have a travel theme to keep to anymore (though there are still a few stories I might tell, they're on reserve). Oh the possibilities! The freedom! I can write about anything! Oh god... what do I write about?!
New plan! Fridays. I think a lot of things during the typical week and often (well, occasionally), just one or two of these thoughts seem to be worthy of sharing with the world. So, starting this Friday, my new goal is to blog about one or another of these things at the end of the week. That would be Friday... depending on who you ask.
As per usual, there will be no rhyme nor reason to the following lunacy. Just thoughts that I hope will be interesting, or at least amusing, or maybe just dumb enough for you to laugh at. Yep, any of those will work.
Coming?
1.31.2012
1.27.2012
Cheers, London!
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| Gill and I at our last pub |
I left London on December 18th, a Sunday. The last weekend I was there was full of nostalgia, friends, and lots of good food and drink (savoring all the things we don't have in America)! The day before that final weekend, the real and true end of the trip, Gill, her friend Andrea, and I went to a cool little piercing shop conveniently located right down the street from our school.We each got piercings, a little something that will always remind us of our adventure in London. I won't tell you about how big of a baby I was in that basement, it'll detract from the nostalgic nature of this story to have you all laughing at my completely unjustified terror.
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| The aforementioned super cool piercing shop |
Yesterday was the 6 week mark of that piercing, the day you are officially allowed to change the earring without the threat of your ear falling off or something equally terrible. I can hardly believe that I've been home for six weeks already. At the same, time it does feel like ages ago that I wandered the streets of Islington. I have been thinking a lot during this time about what I would say in this post, my final study abroad post. Truth is I still don't really know what to say but it's now or never.
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| The tube! Ok, it's still sort of exciting. |
I can't even begin to recount all of the wonderful experiences I had in the UK. I lived in my favorite author's neighborhood, I walked in the footsteps of my favorite band, and I studied amongst years and years of history. I made new friends, saw new places, an tried new things. Yet, in the midst of all the new, there was time enough to get comfortable. Even though new experiences big and small seem to come every day when you're abroad, three months is enough time to settle in and shed that initial feeling of being the outsider. I'll never forget the first time that a tourist asked me for directions.Apparently I looked the part of a local (though I surely never sounded the part)! What made the moment so memorable though, was the fact that I, normally quite directionally challenged, knew the area well enough to actually give the man directions! It is exciting whn riding the Tube stops being exciting and you start to know all the bus routes and stops by name and number. When you know the good, the bad, and the hilarious places to eat as well as all the pubs in your neighborhood (and when they are open). When there is practically a worn down track through the local Sainsbury's because you have your usual shopping list (and your friend's) down pat. When you consult the list of top attractions in the travel book and realize you've seen them all but your list of places to go and things to do still stretches on. When you watch an episode of Doctor Who ("Aliens in London" to be precise) and you have been to every location. When you ride Piccadilly line all the way out to Heathrow and you know what's above every station you stop at in central London. It is so thrilling to know a city as amazing as London on that level!
My flight back home was uneventful, a welcome relief after the horror show that was my flight out, but long. So LONG. A ten hour direct flight to San Fransisco and then 2 more hours home. Between airport time, time zones, and layovers I was up for a solid 24 hours with 12 of them actually in flight. I had no idea what day it was when I finally got to DIA! I must say, I think this trip has cured me of my air travel anxiety (mostly). I feel like there is nothing left that an airline can throw at me that I haven't seen before. Bring it on air travel!... *Except not really, I would like to keep the travel Gods on my side for any future travels. I didn't mean what I said just then. Please, bring it off!*
Coming home to my parents and my puppies was so great. It was like I had never left even though things had changed. How good it is to return to your home! There are so many things that I missed while I was away and I feel extra lucky to have around again! Lots and lots of things I miss now too. I never, never ever thought that I would love any place as much as I love Denver. I guess that's why I was taken so off guard when I began to feel more and more at home in Islington. Three months is the perfect amount of time to get to know a place and the perfect amount of time to be away on your own for the first time. Honestly though, it's barely enough to scratch the surface of all that London has to offer!
There is so much more I could say about those amazing three months but I don't want to ramble any more than I already have. It was a time of many firsts for me; first solo plane ride, first time out of the America, first time living on my own. I honestly had no idea what to expect. Yet, somehow, it exceeded every expectation that I didn't seem to have.
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| Damn, this one isn't the TARDIS either! |
As Gill and I cleaned out our flats at Liberty Hall into the early hours of December 18th "Hello, Goodbye" by my dear Beatles came on. How perfect! I don't know why I had to say goodbye to London when I could be saying hello to all of the wonderful times it showed me, the memories created there, and hopefully a return trip. After searching all this time for the right words I guess I only needed one. This one: fantastic! Every last bit of it was just fantastic and I cannot believe how lucky I am to have had this experience.
As for that earring, I didn't change it. Not just yet. For now I like knowing that I have a tiny bit of London on me at all times. Even if it is just a little post.
*One last fantastic thing: this is Gill's final study abroad post which is far better executed than mine and makes me cry every time I read it. I highly recommend it. Also, note her expert use of British spelling.... britalyzations? And this is a wee little bit from Emily's post of the same nature that uses her English major ways to make a point that I can't seem to. "It’s always strange to have an adventure come to an end . . . it really is like the end of a chapter in a book. Even a section in a book (i.e. Part 1, Part 2 . . .), if it’s epic enough. It feels like there should be some kind of cliffhanger ending, some realization, some type of epic closure. But there rarely is. Things just careen right along without seeming to care that you want to pause for a minute and mull over the chapter before continuing on."
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A fantastic impromptu photo of a construction crew outside City U! |
12.16.2011
How to Succeed in The British Education System Without Really Trying
What a terrible blogger I am. It is certainly not for lack of wondrous amazing experiences and adventures and funny British-isms that I haven't posted lately. It is for lack of time! I am writing this to you from the library at City University on what is quite likely the last day I will ever spend on this campus. I just finished with my psychology exam which was unfortunately difficult and has left me with what may be a permanent claw in the place of my hand. It's a testament to my commitment to you, my loyal readers, that I am typing this at all.
No. That's not true. I'm really just killing time before meeting up with a friend to go to a pub. But the bit about the really hard psych test was true... and my hand does still hurt. Here's the thing about this test. As an international student who is leaving in just a few days (yikes!) I got the pleasure of sitting said exam today, 3 days after the final class where as my peers won't be taking theirs until January 12th. So I got significantly less time to study which is not comforting when you are faced with some pretty tricky essay prompts. On top of that though, is the fact that British people, or at least those at City University, are total nutters about staging exams!
*Note: this is all 3 days old, I write it then forgot to post it but I feel that if I were to change the afore mentioned times now the post would lose some of its impact... also, I don't wanna change it all.*
You know you are in for a long two hours when you can't even figure out how to fill out the front of the exam booklet! Should you ever find yourself sitting a British exam here as some tips; ten minutes of reading time before the test begins does not mean you can review your notes, in that reading time all you are allowed to do is read the questions... for ten minutes. Also, during these ten minutes you are not allowed to make notes on the prompt, just stare at it. This was my first and only formal exam (thankfully) so these ten minutes were really baffling to me. After that initial confusion I set off on a whirlwind essay writing spree on a subject that, aside from the past 9 lectures, I have absolutely no background information on. It was exciting! The rest of those two hours is a blur of hand cramps and really wishing I had used the loo before the exam after all that tea. I literallywrote scrawled my last words the moment the administers called time. Whew! Glad that is done with!
Here's the thing about the British education system, it's very different from America's system. I am not saying that either one is better or worse than the other. They are just different. I personally have been using the American system for the past 14 years so, naturally, attempting to operate in the British system straight away for just one term is a bit of a shock. I am used to going to any given class between 2 and 4 times a week and doing a bit of homework or a small assignment after each one. Here there is one class a week (usually for a grueling 3 hour lecture), one piece of course work (usually a short essay or presentation), and a final project (a longer essay or an exam). That's it, that's all your grade is based on. So yeah, there is a lot of pressure on those few assignments, not something I particularly enjoy.
So my friends, here is the answer to succeeding in the British education system without really trying; you don't. If you don't put in the effort you are going to crash and burn. But on the plus side, when you see a 70 mark on your paper, do not fret that you have barely even pulled a C. 70 is equivalent to an A here, it's a first level grade. The system does go all the way to 100 but some how marks higher than 70 are reserved for publish worthy, gilded, or magical documents. At least that's how I understand the system to work.
No. That's not true. I'm really just killing time before meeting up with a friend to go to a pub. But the bit about the really hard psych test was true... and my hand does still hurt. Here's the thing about this test. As an international student who is leaving in just a few days (yikes!) I got the pleasure of sitting said exam today, 3 days after the final class where as my peers won't be taking theirs until January 12th. So I got significantly less time to study which is not comforting when you are faced with some pretty tricky essay prompts. On top of that though, is the fact that British people, or at least those at City University, are total nutters about staging exams!
*Note: this is all 3 days old, I write it then forgot to post it but I feel that if I were to change the afore mentioned times now the post would lose some of its impact... also, I don't wanna change it all.*
You know you are in for a long two hours when you can't even figure out how to fill out the front of the exam booklet! Should you ever find yourself sitting a British exam here as some tips; ten minutes of reading time before the test begins does not mean you can review your notes, in that reading time all you are allowed to do is read the questions... for ten minutes. Also, during these ten minutes you are not allowed to make notes on the prompt, just stare at it. This was my first and only formal exam (thankfully) so these ten minutes were really baffling to me. After that initial confusion I set off on a whirlwind essay writing spree on a subject that, aside from the past 9 lectures, I have absolutely no background information on. It was exciting! The rest of those two hours is a blur of hand cramps and really wishing I had used the loo before the exam after all that tea. I literally
Here's the thing about the British education system, it's very different from America's system. I am not saying that either one is better or worse than the other. They are just different. I personally have been using the American system for the past 14 years so, naturally, attempting to operate in the British system straight away for just one term is a bit of a shock. I am used to going to any given class between 2 and 4 times a week and doing a bit of homework or a small assignment after each one. Here there is one class a week (usually for a grueling 3 hour lecture), one piece of course work (usually a short essay or presentation), and a final project (a longer essay or an exam). That's it, that's all your grade is based on. So yeah, there is a lot of pressure on those few assignments, not something I particularly enjoy.
So my friends, here is the answer to succeeding in the British education system without really trying; you don't. If you don't put in the effort you are going to crash and burn. But on the plus side, when you see a 70 mark on your paper, do not fret that you have barely even pulled a C. 70 is equivalent to an A here, it's a first level grade. The system does go all the way to 100 but some how marks higher than 70 are reserved for publish worthy, gilded, or magical documents. At least that's how I understand the system to work.
12.01.2011
London's Position in the Spacetime Continuum
I am writing here to announce to the world some shocking scientific news. There is a very powerful space-time anomaly which is effecting the entire city of London.
Frankly, I am shocked that physicists haven't evacuated the whole city to conduct further testing. I don't know how long this has been going on but I can only surmise that it has been quite some time based upon the reactions, or lack thereof, from the native Londoners.
As evidentiary support for this claim, which, I realize, must seem fantastic, I lay out for you these three events which I have experienced first hand and whose validity I fully attest to.
Exhibit A: Waterloo Train Station
A few weeks back Sarah and I went to a wine and cheese festival in Southbank (think London Eye and Across the river from parliament). After feasting on cheese and, well, not wine, I decided to take a bus rather than the Tube back to my place because it's cheaper and more scenic if not faster. Waterloo is a big station and is serviced by several bus stops. After a quick consultation with the map I found a bus going to Islington Angel which stopped at Waterloo Road which appeared to be just around the corner from where I was standing. So I set off and 10 minutes later found myself wrapping back around the enormous train station with Waterloo road no where to be found. So I turned around to look once more at the map.
On my way back around the station I start to notice signs saying things like "lift to Waterloo road" and pointing back into the station. So I went into the train station from the outside world at ground level, turned immediately right 180 degrees and went down an escalator. At the foot of the escalator I found my bus stop right outside. Now if you were following along, you, like me, would have been confused as to how I could have gone down from the ground floor and not actually gone underground. By all reason it seems that the street I had previously walked on in search of Waterloo Road should have been right above me but, alas, blur sky. Clearly the laws of space do not apply here.
Exhibit B: The Infinite Church Bells
Obviously, London is a very old city. There seems to be a historic church on every corner. Many of these churches were built in a time before clock towers and certainly before watches and came equipped with a full set of bells which would ring to mark every quarter hour. Though some of these bells have been removed or no longer ring for any number of other reasons the sound of tolling bells is still very much common place throughout London.
As the intelligent readers that you are I am sure you are familiar with how church bells work. Every 15 minutes they toll out a short melody comprised mainly of perfect fifths and every hour on the hour one of the larger bells is stuck repeatedly to mark the hour of the day. Thus, the most strokes of a large bell you should ever expect to hear at once is 12, at noon and midnight. How then am I to explain the day Emily and I passed a church in Chelsea and heard its large bell struck at regular intervals for at least 2 full minutes? The only reason for a the bells to chime for that long is that they were marking a million o'clock, time works differently here.
Exhibit C: December You Say?
My stay here in London is allotted to last for 3 months, from September 19th to December 18th. By my recollection I arrived here last week and have just begun to settle into my new home. But then, this very morning, I have a look at the calender (who am I kidding, no one has calenders anymore, it was my phone) and what do I see glaring back at me other than the date "Thursday, December 1". Ha! Another of London's impossible time tricks I say! Surely two and a half months have not gone by already. I will be the first to admit that time does, in fact, fly when you're having fun and I have been seeing and doing some pretty incredible things since I've been here to be sure. But, by all logic, it surely cannot be December first if time has been moving in the way that I am accustomed to, that is to say 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, 24 hours to a day, and so on. Indeed, were time functioning in this way I would still have plenty of time left before I return to the U.S. to explore this fascinating city and the rest of the UK, but with less than three weeks left this is simply not the case.
Frankly, I am shocked that physicists haven't evacuated the whole city to conduct further testing. I don't know how long this has been going on but I can only surmise that it has been quite some time based upon the reactions, or lack thereof, from the native Londoners.
As evidentiary support for this claim, which, I realize, must seem fantastic, I lay out for you these three events which I have experienced first hand and whose validity I fully attest to.
Exhibit A: Waterloo Train Station
A few weeks back Sarah and I went to a wine and cheese festival in Southbank (think London Eye and Across the river from parliament). After feasting on cheese and, well, not wine, I decided to take a bus rather than the Tube back to my place because it's cheaper and more scenic if not faster. Waterloo is a big station and is serviced by several bus stops. After a quick consultation with the map I found a bus going to Islington Angel which stopped at Waterloo Road which appeared to be just around the corner from where I was standing. So I set off and 10 minutes later found myself wrapping back around the enormous train station with Waterloo road no where to be found. So I turned around to look once more at the map.
On my way back around the station I start to notice signs saying things like "lift to Waterloo road" and pointing back into the station. So I went into the train station from the outside world at ground level, turned immediately right 180 degrees and went down an escalator. At the foot of the escalator I found my bus stop right outside. Now if you were following along, you, like me, would have been confused as to how I could have gone down from the ground floor and not actually gone underground. By all reason it seems that the street I had previously walked on in search of Waterloo Road should have been right above me but, alas, blur sky. Clearly the laws of space do not apply here.
Exhibit B: The Infinite Church Bells
Obviously, London is a very old city. There seems to be a historic church on every corner. Many of these churches were built in a time before clock towers and certainly before watches and came equipped with a full set of bells which would ring to mark every quarter hour. Though some of these bells have been removed or no longer ring for any number of other reasons the sound of tolling bells is still very much common place throughout London.
As the intelligent readers that you are I am sure you are familiar with how church bells work. Every 15 minutes they toll out a short melody comprised mainly of perfect fifths and every hour on the hour one of the larger bells is stuck repeatedly to mark the hour of the day. Thus, the most strokes of a large bell you should ever expect to hear at once is 12, at noon and midnight. How then am I to explain the day Emily and I passed a church in Chelsea and heard its large bell struck at regular intervals for at least 2 full minutes? The only reason for a the bells to chime for that long is that they were marking a million o'clock, time works differently here.
Exhibit C: December You Say?
My stay here in London is allotted to last for 3 months, from September 19th to December 18th. By my recollection I arrived here last week and have just begun to settle into my new home. But then, this very morning, I have a look at the calender (who am I kidding, no one has calenders anymore, it was my phone) and what do I see glaring back at me other than the date "Thursday, December 1". Ha! Another of London's impossible time tricks I say! Surely two and a half months have not gone by already. I will be the first to admit that time does, in fact, fly when you're having fun and I have been seeing and doing some pretty incredible things since I've been here to be sure. But, by all logic, it surely cannot be December first if time has been moving in the way that I am accustomed to, that is to say 60 seconds to a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, 24 hours to a day, and so on. Indeed, were time functioning in this way I would still have plenty of time left before I return to the U.S. to explore this fascinating city and the rest of the UK, but with less than three weeks left this is simply not the case.
With this evidence taken well to heart I am completely confident in my conclusion that some thing is deeply amiss within the very fabric of spacetime here in London, England. There is obviously nothing that I, nor anyone else, can do about this strange phenomenon so my only logical option is to go along for the ride. That's why, from this moment on, all I can do is enjoy to the fullest every last minute, however long that is, that I have in this wonderful place, where ever this is.
11.24.2011
What the UK Thinks of Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving my friends!!!
It is strange indeed to be away from my family and friends this year but, surprisingly, I'm not actually a complete sniveling wreck like I had expected to be! Why? Three reasons:
1) I am too busy with school work and having awesome UK adventures to get too hung up on being away from home. I have class, a meeting, a voice lesson, and a choir rehearsal on the day that pretty much everyone in America has off. If I were just sitting around my room bored I'm sure this would be a completely different story. Already this morning I have attended a special lecture with a middle eastern musician who taught us all to improvise in modal music, it was actually really fascinating, and now I'm off to a voice lesson and choir rehearsal. What's that saying about busy hands being happy hands?
2) I have alternative plans with my fellow American-in-London, Sarah. Come Saturday we are going to take her kitchen by storm and hobble together a makeshift feast like every other American study abroad student in the world! We could go to one on London's fancier restaurants and spend £50 each on a glamorous, gourmet version of the traditional spread but I like our way much better! I'm calling it Two-Day-Late-British-Thanksgiving... Sarah doesn't know that yet. I have complete faith in our combined abilities to cook a meal (well, I have realistic confidence...) and I'm just hoping that somewhere, in the vastness of the interwebs, I can find streaming video of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I have, however, decided to hold off on watching Elf until I can quote the whole thing with my mom. I seriously can't wait!
3) Thanksgiving simply does not exist here in the UK. And why would it? Heck, a pretty big part of what those early pilgrims were thankful for was not being in England, right? Nope, here in London, as well as all of the other cities I've seen in the past few weeks, it is well into the Christmas season. The lights on Oxford street were on the day after Halloween. Without Thanksgiving there to act as a speed bump, the "holiday season" is just a big, scary snowball hurtling down a steep hill from Halloween to Christmas. In a weird way, the fact that Thanksgiving just isn't an issue here is really helpful, it would be pretty terrible to see all of the locals gearing up for feasts with their families and have to eat deli meat in your dorm.
Now, as I said, Thanksgiving is a very American thing. We Americans take the holiday for granted, we've been making hand turkeys and construction paper pilgrim hats since we were old enough to use scissors. As such we are fooled into thinking that Thanksgiving is common knowledge. Well guess what, to the rest of the world, especially the UK and Europe, Thanksgiving is a pretty baffling concept, the Brits don't even know how to wish someone a happy holiday. "Merry Thanksgiving!...?" Here are just a few of the hilarious Turkey Day misconceptions I've heard in the past few weeks:
-Thanksgiving is the ultimate American holiday and is more popular than Christmas
A few weeks ago I was in Ireland (that post is still in the works, sorry) and my friends and I went out to a bar to see some Irish music. It was crowded and the only places there were to sit were at the bar itself. Long story short, we all ended up getting chatted up by Irishmen (don't worry, Mike). The guy I was talking with was a nice guy who was clearly just trying to make small talk and at some point our conversation turned to holidays. He pointed out that Americans are known to celebrate even the most minor holidays (which, sadly, includes Halloween in their book) whereas, in these parts, Christmas is really the only major holiday. It took me a bit by surprise when he asked whether Christmas or Thanksgiving was a bigger deal in the states. I explained that Christmas is still basically the biggest, most commercial holiday but that Thanksgiving is a close second and that in some families it may be considered a bigger deal. He looked doubtful. That's when I realized that to Europeans and basically any non-Americans, Thanksgiving is a mysterious and glamorous, all out American extravaganza. Who knew?
-And the pilgrims were...?
This morning I was asking the people at the front desk of my residence hall a few questions with Gill, another student from DU, and in between some how being signed up to organize some sort of holiday music extravaganza in the lobby, the subject of Thanksgiving came up once again. Gill and I decided to share some of the lovely holiday stickers that my mom sent me to give the front desk (and its staff) a touch of festivity. They played along, probably because they felt bad for us, but it was amusing to see two grown adults wearing Snoopy stickers on their shirts. The guy (whose name I have never known) went for the sticker that shows Snoopy and Woodstock sitting together wearing, what he called, "funny 17th century outfits." I pointed out that they were pilgrim hats. Blank stares, no response to this at all. It is becoming clear to me that most people outside of America, if they even realize Thanksgiving exists, have basically no idea what it's all about. I am beginning to find all this mystery a bit hilarious.
-So by celebrate you mean drink right?
This one is probably my favorite. Yesterday, Gill and I came back from class and stopped at the desk for some reason or another. The lady working asked if we were going out later that night, implying going out to party. We were both a bit confused for a second until she then pointed out that it was the night before Thanksgiving. Then we were really confused. Apparently when the rest of the world hears that it's a big celebration they assume it's the kind of celebration that involves loud music and copious amounts of booze. Now I'm not saying that there isn't a good bit of wine and such passed around at Thanksgiving and certainly there are relatives all over the country who end their meal (maybe even begin it) in a less than sober state. But when she asked if we were hitting the bars in honor of Thanksgiving I just couldn't help but giggle. She was so earnest about it and all I could think of was her imagining our whole country going out to bars for ridiculous themed holiday drinks and some weird appropriation of turkey.
I guess the reason I find all of this so funny is because we take it all so much for granted that it is just amusing to take a step back from all of the givens and see what it must look like from the outside. At the same time though, it is really great to know that Thanksgiving is way better than the rest of the world apparently thinks it is. Sure, if any media does make it over here regarding the holiday, it's probably about the guy who set his house on fire deep frying his frozen turkey or the lady who ran down an elderly person with a shopping cart at 3:00 in the morning in the toaster aisle at Walmart, we aren't exactly giving them the best image of the holiday. But what we know, that they don't get to see, is that it really is the storybook holiday that it sounds like. People really do think about what they're thankful for and spend the day with their families making wonderful feasts. It truly is an awesome holiday! The rest of the world doesn't know what they're missing out on!
In keeping with the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are just a few of the things that I am thankful for today:
-The past 2 months and the next few weeks. My time in London thus far has been an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything, not even a whole truck load of cranberry sauce
-My super awesome parents who let me go on this trip and put up with my incessant messages when I'm in random crisis mode. They even pretend to miss me!
-My fellow Americans in London for keeping me sane
-All of my wonderful friends at home who send me lovely messages and make me feel loved
Now go forth, my fellow Americans, and eat your turkies, watch your football, and fall asleep on your relatives' couches! And do it proudly! Because you are all part of the cool club who celebrates Thanksgiving!
Very Much Love To You All!!!
P.S. If you're going out for a wild Black Friday shopping spree, for God's sake, don't trample anyone or get trampled!
It is strange indeed to be away from my family and friends this year but, surprisingly, I'm not actually a complete sniveling wreck like I had expected to be! Why? Three reasons:
1) I am too busy with school work and having awesome UK adventures to get too hung up on being away from home. I have class, a meeting, a voice lesson, and a choir rehearsal on the day that pretty much everyone in America has off. If I were just sitting around my room bored I'm sure this would be a completely different story. Already this morning I have attended a special lecture with a middle eastern musician who taught us all to improvise in modal music, it was actually really fascinating, and now I'm off to a voice lesson and choir rehearsal. What's that saying about busy hands being happy hands?
2) I have alternative plans with my fellow American-in-London, Sarah. Come Saturday we are going to take her kitchen by storm and hobble together a makeshift feast like every other American study abroad student in the world! We could go to one on London's fancier restaurants and spend £50 each on a glamorous, gourmet version of the traditional spread but I like our way much better! I'm calling it Two-Day-Late-British-Thanksgiving... Sarah doesn't know that yet. I have complete faith in our combined abilities to cook a meal (well, I have realistic confidence...) and I'm just hoping that somewhere, in the vastness of the interwebs, I can find streaming video of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I have, however, decided to hold off on watching Elf until I can quote the whole thing with my mom. I seriously can't wait!
3) Thanksgiving simply does not exist here in the UK. And why would it? Heck, a pretty big part of what those early pilgrims were thankful for was not being in England, right? Nope, here in London, as well as all of the other cities I've seen in the past few weeks, it is well into the Christmas season. The lights on Oxford street were on the day after Halloween. Without Thanksgiving there to act as a speed bump, the "holiday season" is just a big, scary snowball hurtling down a steep hill from Halloween to Christmas. In a weird way, the fact that Thanksgiving just isn't an issue here is really helpful, it would be pretty terrible to see all of the locals gearing up for feasts with their families and have to eat deli meat in your dorm.
Now, as I said, Thanksgiving is a very American thing. We Americans take the holiday for granted, we've been making hand turkeys and construction paper pilgrim hats since we were old enough to use scissors. As such we are fooled into thinking that Thanksgiving is common knowledge. Well guess what, to the rest of the world, especially the UK and Europe, Thanksgiving is a pretty baffling concept, the Brits don't even know how to wish someone a happy holiday. "Merry Thanksgiving!...?" Here are just a few of the hilarious Turkey Day misconceptions I've heard in the past few weeks:
-Thanksgiving is the ultimate American holiday and is more popular than Christmas
A few weeks ago I was in Ireland (that post is still in the works, sorry) and my friends and I went out to a bar to see some Irish music. It was crowded and the only places there were to sit were at the bar itself. Long story short, we all ended up getting chatted up by Irishmen (don't worry, Mike). The guy I was talking with was a nice guy who was clearly just trying to make small talk and at some point our conversation turned to holidays. He pointed out that Americans are known to celebrate even the most minor holidays (which, sadly, includes Halloween in their book) whereas, in these parts, Christmas is really the only major holiday. It took me a bit by surprise when he asked whether Christmas or Thanksgiving was a bigger deal in the states. I explained that Christmas is still basically the biggest, most commercial holiday but that Thanksgiving is a close second and that in some families it may be considered a bigger deal. He looked doubtful. That's when I realized that to Europeans and basically any non-Americans, Thanksgiving is a mysterious and glamorous, all out American extravaganza. Who knew?
-And the pilgrims were...?
This morning I was asking the people at the front desk of my residence hall a few questions with Gill, another student from DU, and in between some how being signed up to organize some sort of holiday music extravaganza in the lobby, the subject of Thanksgiving came up once again. Gill and I decided to share some of the lovely holiday stickers that my mom sent me to give the front desk (and its staff) a touch of festivity. They played along, probably because they felt bad for us, but it was amusing to see two grown adults wearing Snoopy stickers on their shirts. The guy (whose name I have never known) went for the sticker that shows Snoopy and Woodstock sitting together wearing, what he called, "funny 17th century outfits." I pointed out that they were pilgrim hats. Blank stares, no response to this at all. It is becoming clear to me that most people outside of America, if they even realize Thanksgiving exists, have basically no idea what it's all about. I am beginning to find all this mystery a bit hilarious.
-So by celebrate you mean drink right?
This one is probably my favorite. Yesterday, Gill and I came back from class and stopped at the desk for some reason or another. The lady working asked if we were going out later that night, implying going out to party. We were both a bit confused for a second until she then pointed out that it was the night before Thanksgiving. Then we were really confused. Apparently when the rest of the world hears that it's a big celebration they assume it's the kind of celebration that involves loud music and copious amounts of booze. Now I'm not saying that there isn't a good bit of wine and such passed around at Thanksgiving and certainly there are relatives all over the country who end their meal (maybe even begin it) in a less than sober state. But when she asked if we were hitting the bars in honor of Thanksgiving I just couldn't help but giggle. She was so earnest about it and all I could think of was her imagining our whole country going out to bars for ridiculous themed holiday drinks and some weird appropriation of turkey.
I guess the reason I find all of this so funny is because we take it all so much for granted that it is just amusing to take a step back from all of the givens and see what it must look like from the outside. At the same time though, it is really great to know that Thanksgiving is way better than the rest of the world apparently thinks it is. Sure, if any media does make it over here regarding the holiday, it's probably about the guy who set his house on fire deep frying his frozen turkey or the lady who ran down an elderly person with a shopping cart at 3:00 in the morning in the toaster aisle at Walmart, we aren't exactly giving them the best image of the holiday. But what we know, that they don't get to see, is that it really is the storybook holiday that it sounds like. People really do think about what they're thankful for and spend the day with their families making wonderful feasts. It truly is an awesome holiday! The rest of the world doesn't know what they're missing out on!
In keeping with the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are just a few of the things that I am thankful for today:
-The past 2 months and the next few weeks. My time in London thus far has been an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything, not even a whole truck load of cranberry sauce
-My super awesome parents who let me go on this trip and put up with my incessant messages when I'm in random crisis mode. They even pretend to miss me!
-My fellow Americans in London for keeping me sane
-All of my wonderful friends at home who send me lovely messages and make me feel loved
Now go forth, my fellow Americans, and eat your turkies, watch your football, and fall asleep on your relatives' couches! And do it proudly! Because you are all part of the cool club who celebrates Thanksgiving!
Very Much Love To You All!!!
P.S. If you're going out for a wild Black Friday shopping spree, for God's sake, don't trample anyone or get trampled!
11.10.2011
Remember, Remember the 5th of November...
...The gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.
As many of you are probably aware, this past Saturday was November 5th. For a lot of people it's a date you only sort of half-notice while writing it out on a page of notes or something and having it jog your memory back to V for Vendetta. The movie which isn't about the gunpowder plot per se but it sort of uses it as a backbone and sets the story to a dystopian future. Or maybe you didn't even realize that the fifth of November is actually minor holiday and you were just wondering what was up with the creepy masks cropping up as profile pictures on your newsfeed. Or is it just my friends who do things like that? The point is, Guy Fawkes day isn't too big of a deal in American because, quite frankly, it has nothing to do with us. But here in Britain it is a different story entirely, let me tell you about it!
*Disclaimer: my account of historical events in this blog are based upon what I half listened to my teacher say while we were standing in front of Parliament (What? It is a very loud, busy road!) and Google. It may not be completely accurate but hopefully it's at least entertaining.*
406 years later (and 5 days now, wow I'm slow at posting), there are Brits all over England celebrating this event as a minor holiday fondly dubbed Bonfire Night. It may seem a little odd to celebrate your government nearly being overthrown by terrorists in a violent uprising but I think there are two, equally valid, reasons this occasion is seen as worth remembering and the day has become a holiday. First, let's face it, London has been on fire a lot in it's long history, the whole city has basically burned to the ground at one time or another. But then, when someone tried to set it ablaze on purpose it held out! I'll drink to that fine display of fortitude, or lucky coincidence, and so will the rest of London's population! The other explanation is that 4 centuries ago, Guy Fawkes and the rest of the gang failed so epically that their story has gone down in history and they really just can't seem to live it down. You think it's fun to poke fun at someone for two weeks over one coffee spill to the crotch? Well this is like that, only the mistake was way bigger so everyone is still laughing at you.
As many of you are probably aware, this past Saturday was November 5th. For a lot of people it's a date you only sort of half-notice while writing it out on a page of notes or something and having it jog your memory back to V for Vendetta. The movie which isn't about the gunpowder plot per se but it sort of uses it as a backbone and sets the story to a dystopian future. Or maybe you didn't even realize that the fifth of November is actually minor holiday and you were just wondering what was up with the creepy masks cropping up as profile pictures on your newsfeed. Or is it just my friends who do things like that? The point is, Guy Fawkes day isn't too big of a deal in American because, quite frankly, it has nothing to do with us. But here in Britain it is a different story entirely, let me tell you about it!
*Disclaimer: my account of historical events in this blog are based upon what I half listened to my teacher say while we were standing in front of Parliament (What? It is a very loud, busy road!) and Google. It may not be completely accurate but hopefully it's at least entertaining.*
In 1605, a fellow called Guy Fawkes and 12 of his buddies decided to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Why? Well for the same reason any politically minded group tries to blow anything up, they felt that they were being treated unfairly and wanted to make a point, and hopefully murder the Monarch who was causing the problem at the same time. As they say - "Guy Fawkes was the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions." You see, they were Catholic and had been getting a lot of crap from Queen Elizabeth I's Protestant monarchy. When King James I took over he was supposed to fix it; but he didn't, in fact, he sort of made it worse. So there ya go, Guy Fawkes and his Catholic buddies were fed up and logically the only way to take care of the problem was to wait until King James I and all of his closest advisers were in the Houses of Parliament to conduct some official business and blow the sucker to bits. Problem solved. And no one exactly went out of their way to stop them. At first the group set up camp in a house that they had bought across the street with the plan to dig a tunnel over to the cellar of Parliament through which they could sneak in absurd amounts of primitive explosives. But then, lo and behold, a few months before the big day, a storage room basically right below the Lords Chamber went up for rent. Fawkes and the rest of the men knew the golden rule of real estate (location, location, location) so they snapped that cozy little studio up with out any suspicion whatsoever and managed to haul something like 39 barrels of gunpowder down there with out anyone batting an eye. Really it is amazing that this plan didn't work. I mean come on, they barely even had to try to be sneaky.
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| Here is a picture of said Houses of Parliment I took during class earlier in the week. As you can see, it's still there |
Here's the problem though. Apparently Guy just let any old, non-committal schmo onto his gunpowder slinging team because one of his men actually had a brother-in-law who would have been in Parliament when the planned attack was to take place. In what was probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for their in-laws, this fellow got to feeling guilty and sent a cryptic little note on over to his extended family warning him not to go to work the next day. Either because he was a goody two shoes or he really just couldn't figure out what he was supposed to be getting out of a note that probably read like the work of a primary school kid who was new to riddle writing... and writing, the brother-in-law showed it to his Lords and Commons pals. They clearly got the message because on November 4th, they searched the houses of Parliament and found Fawkes hiding downstairs with the gunpowder. I don't know if any one knows why he was down there but it is my bet that he sucked at rock, paper, scissors and ended up with the job of lighting the powder. And thus their plan was foiled and all the members of the band were either arrested or ended up blowing themselves up while drying out their left over dynamite by the fire so they could try again later.
406 years later (and 5 days now, wow I'm slow at posting), there are Brits all over England celebrating this event as a minor holiday fondly dubbed Bonfire Night. It may seem a little odd to celebrate your government nearly being overthrown by terrorists in a violent uprising but I think there are two, equally valid, reasons this occasion is seen as worth remembering and the day has become a holiday. First, let's face it, London has been on fire a lot in it's long history, the whole city has basically burned to the ground at one time or another. But then, when someone tried to set it ablaze on purpose it held out! I'll drink to that fine display of fortitude, or lucky coincidence, and so will the rest of London's population! The other explanation is that 4 centuries ago, Guy Fawkes and the rest of the gang failed so epically that their story has gone down in history and they really just can't seem to live it down. You think it's fun to poke fun at someone for two weeks over one coffee spill to the crotch? Well this is like that, only the mistake was way bigger so everyone is still laughing at you.
And how exactly does one celebrate the near death experience of a historical landmark/government center (centre?) and subsequent capture, torture, and execution of the perpetrators? By having the local school children create replicas of them (the perps, not the buildings) to throw onto huge bonfires that are lit all over the city for people to stand and drink around while they wait to see fireworks which, I suppose, represent the explosions that didn't happen! Sure, it may sound a little bizarre and my teacher claims that it's all become just an excuse for a party but, hey, it's fun! Personally, I headed out to a park in Southwark with a friend who was in town for the weekend where we experienced a celebration not entirely unlike Independence Day back home. There was a really great fireworks show set to music that kicked off right at 7:00 (it gets dark at 5:00 here with daylight savings!) as promised. After counting down with the "worshipful mayor of Southwark", we stood in a large field and watched the impressive display from a distance that was so close it probably would have been deemed unsafe in The States. Unlike the 4th of July however, bonfire night is a chilly evening in November, people come out see the fireworks and leave, so there's no laying out on the grass and spending the the whole day in the park. On Bonfire Night you come, crane your neck all the way back for 15 minutes, and leave. But it's fun! Especially when you're an American college student who realizes, "Hey, I'm in London, England celebrating with the locals on Bonfire Night. How cool is this?"
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| This is just a fraction of the huge crowd out for the event in Southwark |
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| Each explosion is essentially a tongue stuck out at poor old Guy. |
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| We had a very long day traversing all over the space-time anomaly that is London but we were still stoked to see fireworks! |
And that, in a structurally unsound nut shell, is the story of Bonfire Night. Hope you enjoyed!
Also, just as a heads up, I've got some traveling coming up in the near future so keep a look out for new posts about even more exotic places... sort of.
Cheers!
10.25.2011
Cheese It's Good!
When you think of countries that are famous for their cheeses you probably think of France or Switzerland and rightly so; France produces more than 500 different types of cheese and the Swiss gave us that holy stuff. When it comes to purveyors of fine cheese England often gets left off the list. That has to be a mistake and I hope that this post can convince you to add England to your mental list of places with good cheese!
Exhibit A: Cheddar Salad Sandwiches
As a devout disciple of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy I came to London expecting to find a lot of boring, stale sandwiches being sold at coffee shops and quick stop type places. After all, Adams has been right about plenty of other things, why shouldn't I believe him about this? *snickers* Luckily, this does not seem to be the case. The sandwiches I have come across here have all been quite tasty! However, most of the ready made things that you find at campus cafes and the like are the tuna/chicken/egg salad varieties. I am no fan of mayo so those are all immediately out of the running. But wait... what is this? Cheddar Salad? Cue the Heavenly Chorus of Voices! (But ignore the picture of Spongebob). White bread, tomato, lettuce, and British cheddar... all good! British cheddar is white and a little bit stronger than the standard cheddar cheese in America. I would say it's something like the medium sharp cheddar from Wisconsin but not quite, maybe it's a little creamier? What ever it is, it's delicious and at just £1.90 at the uni's cafes it's a new staple of my diet.
Exhibit B: The Ploughman's Lunch
The Ploughman is a pretty standard lunch offering for many pubs in London. Before I left, the seasoned travelers in my life who had been to London before and experienced the pub food for themselves all told me that it was just one of the weird things that pubs try to pass off as lunch; "just a hunk of cheese and a pickle" they said. But for someone who makes a habit of eating a loaf of bread and a block of cheese (preferably straight off the block) and calls it dinner this seemed like a great lunch idea!
One day I ended up at a local pub near my school with some friends for lunch and the ploughman was on the menu so of course I had to order it. I got three big chunks of cheese (brie, stilton, and British cheddar), a small bit of salad (the generic British term for any type of lettuce-y thing), a few odd garnishes which stayed on the plate, a whole basket of breads and cheeses, and a pickle (sweet not dill).
Exhibit C: Wine and Cheese Festivals
So this may not be exactly English cheese specific but still... there was cheese and it happened in England so I say it counts! Last weekend there was a cheese and wine festival in Southbank, the very down town part of London where the London Eye, Parliament, and Big Ben are. Sarah saw it in Time Out and we decided that it would at least be a fun place to stop by for a bit. When we finally found the festival tucked away behind Royal Festival Hall we were a little bummed to see how crowded it was. It wasn't a very large festival by any means but there were tons of people there, so many that it was quite difficult to walk around amongst the vendors' tents and see what there was to sample. However we did see several people with huge trays of cheeses and breads so we decided to make getting one of our own the goal. We had to ask some one where they got theirs and then wait in a rather ungodly que but we finally walked away with a plate full of four different cheeses. The man at the booth rattled off the the long, fancy names so fast that I honestly have no idea what any of them were but they were all delicious! I don't know anything about wine and the few sips I've had in my lifetime haven't been my type of thing at all so Sarah and I decided to split a cider. We found a place on the side walk to sit and enjoy our purchase in the fall air. That made for a good outing!
We've all heard of "the freshman 15" where college freshman gain 15 pounds from eating starchy cafeteria food all the time. I never had that. However I don't think I will be so lucky as to escape theforeign 15 the traveler's 20 Britain Belly quite so easily with all this cheese around!
Exhibit A: Cheddar Salad Sandwiches
As a devout disciple of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy I came to London expecting to find a lot of boring, stale sandwiches being sold at coffee shops and quick stop type places. After all, Adams has been right about plenty of other things, why shouldn't I believe him about this? *snickers* Luckily, this does not seem to be the case. The sandwiches I have come across here have all been quite tasty! However, most of the ready made things that you find at campus cafes and the like are the tuna/chicken/egg salad varieties. I am no fan of mayo so those are all immediately out of the running. But wait... what is this? Cheddar Salad? Cue the Heavenly Chorus of Voices! (But ignore the picture of Spongebob). White bread, tomato, lettuce, and British cheddar... all good! British cheddar is white and a little bit stronger than the standard cheddar cheese in America. I would say it's something like the medium sharp cheddar from Wisconsin but not quite, maybe it's a little creamier? What ever it is, it's delicious and at just £1.90 at the uni's cafes it's a new staple of my diet.
 |
| perhaps my favorite lunch standard |
Exhibit B: The Ploughman's Lunch
The Ploughman is a pretty standard lunch offering for many pubs in London. Before I left, the seasoned travelers in my life who had been to London before and experienced the pub food for themselves all told me that it was just one of the weird things that pubs try to pass off as lunch; "just a hunk of cheese and a pickle" they said. But for someone who makes a habit of eating a loaf of bread and a block of cheese (preferably straight off the block) and calls it dinner this seemed like a great lunch idea!
One day I ended up at a local pub near my school with some friends for lunch and the ploughman was on the menu so of course I had to order it. I got three big chunks of cheese (brie, stilton, and British cheddar), a small bit of salad (the generic British term for any type of lettuce-y thing), a few odd garnishes which stayed on the plate, a whole basket of breads and cheeses, and a pickle (sweet not dill).
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| The cleverly named pub. |
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| A standard Ploughman's Lunch. So good! |
Exhibit C: Wine and Cheese Festivals
So this may not be exactly English cheese specific but still... there was cheese and it happened in England so I say it counts! Last weekend there was a cheese and wine festival in Southbank, the very down town part of London where the London Eye, Parliament, and Big Ben are. Sarah saw it in Time Out and we decided that it would at least be a fun place to stop by for a bit. When we finally found the festival tucked away behind Royal Festival Hall we were a little bummed to see how crowded it was. It wasn't a very large festival by any means but there were tons of people there, so many that it was quite difficult to walk around amongst the vendors' tents and see what there was to sample. However we did see several people with huge trays of cheeses and breads so we decided to make getting one of our own the goal. We had to ask some one where they got theirs and then wait in a rather ungodly que but we finally walked away with a plate full of four different cheeses. The man at the booth rattled off the the long, fancy names so fast that I honestly have no idea what any of them were but they were all delicious! I don't know anything about wine and the few sips I've had in my lifetime haven't been my type of thing at all so Sarah and I decided to split a cider. We found a place on the side walk to sit and enjoy our purchase in the fall air. That made for a good outing!
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| Can I say delicious again? Delicious! |
We've all heard of "the freshman 15" where college freshman gain 15 pounds from eating starchy cafeteria food all the time. I never had that. However I don't think I will be so lucky as to escape the
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